The Last Link
by Michelle167
Summary: A twisted dark ending to the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles written at the end of season one.


This is a fanfic I wrote at the end of season one of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It is still posted on the wiki but I decided to post it here along with a few others I wrote around the same time for those who may not have visited the wiki site.

Title: The Last Link

Author: Michelle67d Rating: PG-13 for violence

Main characters: John, Cameron, Derek

Summary: A twisted, dark ending to the series.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in this story,nor do I own any of the rights to Terminator:the Sarah Connor belong to the creators of the series and Fox.

Present:

"What do you mean it's time to get rid of her?!" John questioned. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.

John was glad that Cameron had retreated to her room when they had arrived at the house...he didn't want her to hear thought that things had gotten better between Derek and Cameron - that maybe they had come to terms and found common ground as fighters for the resistance. But here Derek was once again saying she had to go.

John's Flashback:

Cameron was driving. She always drove. Despite John's desire to be at the wheel, he knew it was for the best. Unlike him, Cameron would not nod off due to lack of sleep.

Days had passed since they had been separated from Derek and his mom. They had tried to double back but had been unsuccessful. Cromartie was on their trail and seemed to cut them off at every opportunity. They were on their own.

Not that John was worried. Cameron always came through. For three years now she had been his constant companion pulling him out of one dire situation after another. He had no doubt that she would do whatever she had to do to ensure his it was her mission to make sure that he survived.

"Can we take a break? Surely we're far enough ahead of him by now?" John mumbled.

The monotony of the deserted stretch of highway was beginning to take it's tole on him. They were driving in the middle of nowhere.

Staring at him, Cameron replied, "We can take five minutes, no more. There is a gas station a few miles ahead."

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Just do", she answered.

John shrugged it off. Ever since he had met Cameron, she had been vague about things. His understanding was that her programming was to protect him in every way possible, even from information that might be unsettling to him. From a human standpoint,it was simply her protective nature.

The gas station rolled into view, and Cameron pulled the vehicle up to the pumps.

"I'm going to fill up the tank. There isn't any where else to stop for a long time." she stated.

"I'll pay!" John yelled as he headed into the store.

With dust covering everything, the store looked like something out of a ghost first John thought it might be deserted, but a voice rang out from the back of the store.

"Can I help you?" a tall gangly fellow approached the counter.

" I need to pay for gas" , John had thought of buying a few food supplies, but the run down condition of the store had changed his mind.

"Gas? Sure" looking through the window at Cameron the man smiled, "Where are you and your girlfriend headed?"

Girlfriend...John had been with Cameron for nearly two years. For a while he had dated other girls because he felt that he and Cameron could never be. But after a year of denial he gave into his feelings for her and crossed that forbidden invisible line. Rarely did he even think about the fact that underneath her beauty was a machine.

"Just driving I guess. Headed for the open road." John smiled. He really had no idea where they would wind up.

" Well, You couldn't have picked a more open one. There isn't anything around here for the next 200 miles except deserted military bunkers. If I were you I'd obey the speed limit, conserve my gas, and try not to get the car 's a long walk to anywhere around these parts."

A brief look of concern crossed John's face. Cromartie had been forcing them deeper and deeper into this wasteland.

"Not a very good place to be when you're on the run from a cybernetic killing machine from the future I guess," thought John.

Handing the man cash, John said, " Thanks for the advice."

John headed back to the car. Cameron was already in the driver's seat waiting for him.

"Cameron do you have any idea where we are going?", John asked.

As she looked at him John could tell she wanted him to trust her, " It's okay John. Everything's going to be okay."

Present:

"Derek, Cameron has been loyal from the beginning. She's not only saved my life, but yours as well.I can't believe that you're harping on this again! Does Mom know you're pushing this?" John asked.

As John asked the question, Cameron quietly slipped into the room listening to their every word.

Neither John nor Derek saw her.

"She knows. I thought it might be easier on her if I was the one to tell you. This has to be done John." Derek answered.

John felt hurt and betrayed. Over the last three years Sarah had accepted her role as a mentor to Cameron, if not as a real mother. Perhaps if she had know the type of relationship that Cameron had developed with her son it would have been different, but in the long run it didn't matter. Sarah was siding with Derek.

John's Flashback:

John could see Cameron out on the ground, her lifeless body lying crumpled by the car. Two seconds -- all he had to do was stay away from Cromartie for two seconds, and Cameron would be back on the scene.

John was fast but where could he go? Desert everywhere..desolation. Nothing to hide behind...nowhere to run.

He could feel his legs slip as he skidded on the loose rocks beneath his feet. It seemed like his whole world stopped.

"Am I breathing? I can't tell if I'm breathing." he thought. It seemed such a strange thought to was so surreal.

His hands hit the ground as his feet gave way beneath him. Rocks and dust flew everywhere.

"Cameron where are you?" silent words, desperate thoughts.

He couldn't see her at this angle. How long had it been? 30 seconds?...one Minute?

"Cameron", one last thought before... Cromartie's hand grabbed the back of John's leg. He heard a then another... and another. The fire burning in his leg was so intense he wasn't even aware that Cromartie had him up in the air. He was sailing through the air like a body slammed into the side of the vehicle that Cromartie had been chasing them in.

"Cameron", he whispered. As Cromartie sought to finish his mission, John blacked out.

Present:

"You can't do this Derek, you just can't." John reasoned.

"John listen. It's over. We have taken out everything on the list, wiped out every possible avenue from which skynet could be built...except for know she's got to be destroyed." Derek explained.

John just stood there in shock.

"You found the last member of the list? When did this happen?" John stuttered.

"When you and Cameron were running from Cromartie. I had to practically force your mother into it. She was so worried about you, but in the end she agreed to continue the search, and needless to say it's taken care of. You should be happy -- you have a chance for a normal life." Derek smiled. It seemed like good news to him.

The strangest look crossed John's face. "A normal life?" he repeated.

John's Flashback:

The light nearly blinded John. He was disoriented. Pain shot through his body, yet he was unable to move. As his eyes adjusted he could see that he was strapped into some sort of chamber. He was also aware that his lungs were working with the aid of a machine.

"How bad do you feel?" Cameron asked.

"How do you think?" he asked sarcastically.

A look of hurt passed over Cameron's concerned face as she gazed down at him.

"Sorry", he apologized, ' What happened? Where is Cromartie?"

"He won't be bothering us again. It's over. I was able to take him out just in time before he could complete his mission." she said.

"You mean his mission of killing me" John winced as he spoke, with great noticed that his speech seemed slurred.

"Yes" she answered.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"It's a deserted military bunker. You sent back resistance fighters to set the place up as a hospital of sorts in case there was ever a need for it. I knew that Cromartie was getting too close this time, and I wasn't sure if you'd come out of it unscathed so I made the decision to drive here in case you were hurt" she explained.

"Well I guess, you made the right call" he sighed.

"Yes It would seem that it was the right decision." she answered.

The look of concern on her face worried him.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

Cameron dropped her head.

Present:

John glared at Derek. Anger rose within him. A normal life? He had never had a normal life and this would be no different.

He felt conflicted. The mission was complete, even Cromartie was destroyed. This was the last thing left to do.

John reached for the gun Derek had left on the table feeling the weight of it as he contemplated the fact that he had never actually fired one. In all the days they had been trying to stop Skynet he had never even fired one.

Cameron looked at him inquisitively as if questioning if he thought that a mere gun could take her out if he decided to use it.

As if on cue Derek noticed Cameron in the room. Looking at her he said.

"You know this has got to be done. Any technology that could conceivably open the door to skynet being built again has got to be destroyed. She's the last link, John, She's got to go.

"You're right" John said, "It does have to be done."

Tears rolled down John's face. Derek was the closest link he had to his real dad. They had grown so close over the last three years. Sadness welled up from his deepest being. He had no choice.

John raised the gun.

A look of shock, then confusion crossed Derek's face.

"Cameron's not the last link, Derek...I am."John pulled the trigger.

And Derek was gone.

Cameron put her hand on John's shoulder to reassure him.

"It's all right John. If he had known, he would have destroyed both of had to be done."

And through the tears John remembered.

He remembered the fear he felt when Cameron explained the degree of his injuries.

He remembered the look of horror as he gazed upon what was left of his battered body in the mirror Cameron held for him. He could not hold it for himself.

He remembered the pain he felt when Cameron told him his spine was severed at the neck and he'd never walk again.

He remembered the desperation when he realized that the machines attached to chamber were keeping his heart beating as well as his lungs working.

And he remembered the hopelessness he felt when Cameron explained to him that the cause of the slur in his speech was due to brain damage, and that as time went on it would only get worse not only affecting his speech but his ability to think as well.

He remembered the shock he felt as he saw the tears rolling down Cameron's face. He didn't know she was even capable of crying. This had to be the end - his end.

And then she spoke.

"I can fix it John...It was why you sent me."

At first he had been filled with horror, but a quite acceptance settled over him. He realized that this is what he had wanted all along. As much as Cameron wanted to know what it was like to be human he had wanted to know what it was like to be a he was still filled with fear.

"Will it still be me?" he asked.

"Yes, the procedure implants a chip in the cerebral cortex to work in cooperation with your brain to control the functions of the endoskeleton. The implant will also function in the areas in which brain damage has already occured and should stop any further brain damage from occurring." she explained.

John closed his eyes, " Do it." he whispered.

It had been days since he and Cameron had left the underground bunker. He had been surprised at how well he had adjusted to being more machine than human, and Cameron was right...he had all his faculties. He felt like the same John...until Derek.

His tears were quickly drying. What had seemed so hard just seconds ago felt like it would be easy now.

He and Cameron waited for Sarah to return home.


End file.
